


Gamma Leonis

by Estirose



Category: Hustle Cat
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-21
Updated: 2017-12-21
Packaged: 2019-02-17 19:30:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,310
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13083828
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Estirose/pseuds/Estirose
Summary: Mason's new coworker will turn her life around.(Mason/Female Avery)





	Gamma Leonis

**Author's Note:**

  * For [C-chan (1001paperboxes)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/1001paperboxes/gifts).



Mason wasn't expecting Graves to hire yet another person. Not that she minded a little extra help as long as they didn't mess up the kitchen or eat all the customers' food. She was sure that this Avery had no idea of what they were getting into, just like she'd had no idea. 

Not that being a cat was all that bad. It was really the only way that she could spend time with her grandpa, and not have him judge her. No, she had gone out of his life and she was never coming back. "So, is Avery a guy or a girl?" Finley was asking. At least she was off the topic of those two Japanese cosplayers. Finley had shown her a picture - some guy in a robot costume that looked real, and this other guy in a long silver wig.

"Girl," Landry said. "Not that it's easy to tell. She's kind of small-chested. But Graves says she's a girl."

Avery being a girl didn't tell her much. Didn't tell her if this Avery knew how to turn on a stove or how to bake. Hayes had said that Avery liked his coffee, which was not at all strange. Everybody liked Hayes' coffee.

Well, best to find out when Avery got there. Then she'd have an idea.

In the meantime, she finished cleaning the kitchen and headed out. Even if she couldn't live as a human anymore, she still could get into her place, and she could sleep on her own bed. Graves made sure that any fur she shed on the covers was cleared off, though she knew all too well how hard it was to get cat fur out of anything. Cat fur tended to show up anywhere that it could show up, in her experience.

In the morning, she'd go see her grandpa for a little while before she headed in to the kitchen. The nice thing about being a cat was that she really didn't sleep that long - she'd have about an hour with him before she got into work.

An hour wasn't nearly enough, never was, but it was something that she could live with. She curled up and slept for a while.

In the morning, the alarm went off and she batted at it with her paw. The sun was barely peeking out, and it was nearly dark, but it really didn't matter. She was fairly safe as a cat, and it wasn't far to her grandpa's store. She padded down and arrived just as he was opening, meowing to know that she'd arrived. He nodded as he slipped behind the counter, leaving her to curl up on a box nearby. She wished she could stay like this forever sometimes, but she needed to eat, and besides, where would the cafe be without her?

An hour later - she kept a better eye on the clock than her grandpa probably imagined - she headed towards the cafe. She shimmered into human form nearly at the door and unlocked it. Her change of clothes, like everybody else's, was up at Graves' apartment, and so she headed up. It wouldn't do to smell.

A change of clothes later, and she was heading downstairs to prep both breakfast and what she needed to cook for the cafe that day. She had always organized the ingredients and everything else so she didn't have to be completely awake before she made coffee in the drip coffeemaker. She took a sip of coffee and started on the french toast. The frittata would take less time, after all.

Maybe later she would have some time to chat with Hayes. She sometimes felt like a mother cat with him, as lost as he was, though she wouldn't have said she was maternal.

After a while, both breakfasts were done. She headed downstairs to see what her new coworker looked like. Avery Grey was a slim girl with pale skin and light hair, a little out of breath. Not bad looking, but she needed to be more than a pretty face. She'd probably end up pale white when she started transforming, or maybe not. Maybe she'd turn into a Scottish Fold or something. Mason was barely aware of Finley introducing her to Avery.

Avery, who turned out to be the kind of person to eat cold pizza for breakfast. Mason was worried about her, to be honest, but soon Avery would have to eat at the cafe anyway like the rest of them did. At least Avery knew how to follow instructions, much to Mason's relief.

And, apart from some alarm from Avery they day she grew a whisker, things went well. She never saw Avery as a cat, but she hadn't exactly bothered to find out or ask anyone what Avery's cat form was.

She never realized how curious Avery was until her coworker showed up at her grandpa's store and made the connection. She hadn't wanted anybody to know where she spent her time or who was important to her. After all, she spent Christmas and New Years and every other family holiday with them unless she was keeping her grandpa company, and usually she divided her time.

But, as she told Avery, she didn't like to shop, and Graves had plenty of DVDs. And this way, she had her grandpa. It didn't mean that she didn't mind spending some quality time with someone else, and she found that Avery, as irritating as she could be, was also charming.

And she was willing to learn, as Mason found. Once Avery had invited Mason to her home and gotten over the initial panic, she had been excited to learn how to cook. Mason was reminded of her time with he grandpa, learning-

No, she was going to leave that past behind for the moment and teach Avery how to cook. She actually wasn't too bad, once she gained some confidence. She was so like Mason in some ways, just a bit more... social, Mason thought. Watching Avery make the dish made her feel oddly special, since she was the teacher this time, and not the student.

But Avery still had a lot to learn. Not just about cooking, but how not to poke her nose where it shouldn't have been. Couldn't she leave well enough alone? Of course not. She wouldn't be Avery if she didn't, even if it made Mason angry.

Mason felt so odd. She loved Avery, even though she really should have kicked Avery out of her life. But Avery was not afraid of her, and that mattered a lot to her. She suspected that Avery would do anything to make her happy, even if it made her extremely angry first.

And then her grandpa showed up. He had to be there because of Avery; of course it was something she would do. Go behind Mason's back, try to get them talking again. For the first time in a long while, Mason was frozen. It wasn't because of a spell, but because her grandpa. Was there. Eating what she'd made. 

Commenting about it, and apologizing for driving her away, even though she was the one who had chosen to leave. Being willing to talk to her again, working with her again, wanting to have her in his life again. It was more than she was able to deal with.

She ran upstairs. 

And of course, Avery came after her. It was a relief. She had never thought that she'd be able to have a conversation with her grandpa again, but nosy, stubborn, caring Avery was willing to prove her wrong. 

It was just a start, both to her new relationship with her grandpa and her deeper relationship with Avery, but it didn't matter. It had to be the best day of her life, and she would remember it always.


End file.
